Beyond The Sleeping Dragon
by Augustine Deadthorn
Summary: A rag tag group of nerds that ritually play D&D get a surprise when they attempt to start a new campaign. Their dungeon master decided to bring a mysterious object on that fateful night, a gold sleeping dragon statue. When they come into contact with the relic they go into a coma-like trance and wake up...as their characters. Now they are striving to find their way 'home'.
1. Chapter 1 Roll Your Stats

**Foreword:**

This is a fan fiction based off of Wizards Of The Coast Dungeons & Dragons. In no way shape or form am I claiming any material related to Dungeons & Dragons as my own original work. I am but a simple fan making an imaginative contribution to something that means a lot in my life. It has introduced me to the best friendships I have come to know. Please enjoy my story.

 **Chapter 1: Roll Your Stats**

"Nine hundred fifty eight…carry the one hundred…hmm..I gues it's all here. I really hope they don't mess it up next time. For gods sakes I better get that e-mail with my pay stub or else Jeff is going to have to pay for my gas the next time this crap happens. " The room was slightly lit with dim lights surrounding the square open area. There was a movie playing featuring some odd mouse that was seeking out science rats. Besides the musings of the children's movie one hears a lonesome tap..tap…tap on a keyboard. Welcome to the Central Adult Day Center or better known as CDDC. This is where Elise, the program manager, works five days a week 8am-4pm until she will retire (which is never may I add). Elise is certainly no greenhorn to this field and has worked a multitude of jobs serving those whom have mental and physical disabilities. She does not have one specific reason for entering this field…just a drive to help those of lower functioning as such: "what kind of life do they live and how can I improve it" or 'I am obligated to serve those around me that need the help". No matter the reason at this point, just five more minutes and she is running the hell out of here. It wasn't a bad day…she always has good days.

It's just that it's finally Friday. Now, she isn't what you call one of those typical weekend partying types…well I guess that depends on what type of 'party' you are talking about. She has been an avid dungeons and dragons player for about eight years at this point in her life. Given that she is 24 years old, that's not too shabby. Tonight she has her weekly gathering of her motley crew friends. They have been running a campaign together for about three years. Last week their entire party was obliterated by a rabid pack of displacier beasts followed by running into a black dragon at night. She was very excited to try out her latest character creating. She has exactly enough time to save her document, clean up her desk and put away the movie until the all familiar guitar medley alarm goes off to notify her that it is time to clock out.

"Well, as long as you have fun and are careful. Enjoy yourself dear." Cooed Jameson to Elise. "Will you put a damn cork in it" answered a flustered Elise as she was frantically searching for her character sheet. "You know, I think I might have shredded it. Too bad looks like you have to spend another hour picking and rewriting all your chicken scratch that was on the back of the page" chucked Jameson. "Will you seriously cut the crap and at least help me look for the damn thing" growled Elise whom was now whipping all of the oversize pillows off of the kitchen sofa. "I don't have to, looks like Griff already found it." Elise turned around with a raised eyebrow to see the infant grasping her character sheet in his tiny hand. Jameson and Elise are what you would consider newlyweds. They especially love to teasing each other as the one on the receiving end will fire a catty retort right back. They have a one year old son together named Griffin. Jameson is not interested in dungeons and dragons but is supportive of his wife to continue her ritual that has been a part of her life so long. After a few short goodbyes she was off to finally enjoy the one day she has been looking forward to.


	2. Chapter 2 The Sleeping Drago

**Chapter 2: The Sleeping Dragon**

"Shit, we're always late" chided Damian as he tossed his head to move the locks from out of his eyes. Damian is Elise's cousin. He has been 'attributing' to the DND group for around a year or so. He is eighteen and loving life until he moves away to start college next fall. Being that he is a fresh graduate out of high school he is trying to enjoy the far and few fun things to do around here.

They hail from a small Pennsylvanian city called "Flood City". The city suffered a dam break ages ago and the name naturally stuck. Basically the city is an old city with decaying house foundations and lined with rusting steel mills. Although, a handful are active most of the citizens travel outside of the city to make a meager earning.

Elise nonchalantly shut her trunk after she gathered her trademark skull messenger bag that contained all of the D&D related delicacies one would imagine. Dice, spare character sheets, dozens of clicky pencils, a sketch book, a small note book, some soda and some sour patch kids. 'We are so ready to do this' she mused as she was gradually forming the appearance of her character in her mind.

"So like, lemme guess, you picked another psychopathic fire mage to burn all of the shit down. Oh and you decided to be some man right? Damian scoffed as he slung his book bag over his shoulder. Elise smirked and rolled her eyes. "Not this time, it's a surprise. I decided to let fate decide what I play."

Damian and Elise are blood cousins. Elise, being an only child, really enjoys the enthusiasm Damian reflects for this hobby. Damian is graduating from high school after this semester. He has decided to go out of state for college since this area is slowly having its business blood drained and infused elsewhere. So they are trying to spend as much time humanly possible together in between work, a pizza shop and long boring weekdays. "Oh so you randomed your character? That's cool. Too bad we couldn't preplan something for our party." "Yeah, Tanner likes to keep things fresh ya' know?" Tanner is the local asshole, I mean dungeon master. He has been playing the longest out of this rag tag group. Being in his mid thirties one would expect him to have a wealth of knowledge available to this youngins. Having grown up in the 80s-90s he was quite familiar with the whole table top RPGs, card games and star wars scene. He was an all around cool guy to be around. He was an absolute god in their eyes and they would be lost without him. He really knows how to keep things real in a game of D&D. Tanner is the type of dungeon master that lets the characters meet their own demise by the rules instead of what is convenient for him. Maybe once in awhile he will pull a dick move by sending some random ass assassin into their camp but it's not like he is throwing an ancient red lich dragon at them. Yet.

The rest of the drive was fueled by talk of their character's spells, quirks and what toppings they would like on their pizza. Damian, whom works at the pizza shop part time, suggested that his co-workers make a dick out of the pepperoni. Dumb shit. They finally arrive to their destination, Tanner's place. "Looks like we are last, as usual so that's a good thing" Elise remarked sarcastically as she shut off her PT cruiser. The old girl had some rust…but she still worked. That my friends is the key part. "Yeah, if we happen to run early Tanner seems to roll crits non-stop" remarked Damian as he pulls out his makeshift D&D messenger bag. After they gather their things the walk down a slight incline that leads to the basement door. The air is fresh and cool this time during the evenings. One thing did seem a bit odd, the night cicadas were dead silent. Not a single note could be heard from the symphony of crickets that typically populate the night air. Did either of these two notice, not at the time, but perhaps it is one of nature's cruel lessons they will learn: Mother Nature Knows All, Respect Her.

Elise opens the door and the welcoming sight of light, feeling of warmth and friendly voices engulf her. The duo scuff across the pavement floor to their seats. Everyone is there sitting around the table. There are a pair arguing about some sort of flavored chip, someone is frantically looking for a pencil and one other individual is idly flipping through their phone with the terrible reception the basement has to offer.

The pair go largely unnoticed as they sit down and start rifling through their bags to grab their D&D gear.

"Ok ok, let's just chill. I'm going to go have a quick smoke for a second. You guys get ready- no bullshitting and no plotting. Got it?" Tanner says as he stands up lighting his cigarette. The nicotine smell wafts through the air and follows him out like a grasping ghost. With a gentle 'thud' he is out the door on his phone- attempting to have a conversation with the loose cig dangling from his mouth.

"So, I am guessing you randomed your character? Kinda your go to when we do stuff this this huh". Elise turned to her left with her very good friend Karma attempting to catch a glimpse of her character sheet. "Well, aren't you the intuitive one" said Elise flipping over her sheet and then went to work organizing her dice "Maze well just keep them as is. You get a bad roll and they just go into a jumbled pile named the dice jail ya know?" "yeah but I would like to see the D6s when I go to use the damn things" "AHA! So you are a magic class. Figures. Well my bro and I have the perfect pair of Orcs you'll ever come to know." "Thought you weren't allowed to plot." said Elise rolling her eyes slightly. "Yeah- good luck with that when you have a nosey ass brother."

Karmen was talking about her brother Karl. They are twins and really like to butt heads. One wonders how they can cool it enough to sit down and enjoy a round of dungeons and dragons. They are very good people though- they would give you the shirts off of their backs AND the shitter to boot. Karl is your typical guy: loud, obnoxious, hungry and at times inappropriate. He was one hell of a role player though.

Elise looked past Karmen to observe two males in a heated discussion about chips. One of those men being Karl and the other Phoenix. Phoenix is relatively newer to the group- he had heard about them through the grapevine with Elise's involvement with those that have handicaps. Phoenix is a very sweet boy and crazy intelligent. He does have a sense of humor but gets more appreciation out of topics that make him think and offer in depth discussion. Phoenix suffers from cerebral palsy. This disorder has rendered his left arm completely useless, a slight speech impediment and his legs do not work. He is in a motorized wheelchair and has his own specially made vehicle for traveling. You will never meet anyone nicer than him around.

"Oh right Oh right let's get this show on the road victims- I mean adventurers" Said Tanner as he hangs the coat on the back of his chair to sit down. "Shut the hell up you prick and do your damn job. Thanks to dinkles over there" Karl motions to Damian and Elise "We are already late- now we are a half hour behind." "Chill- unless you want me to one shot your wimpy character you'll shut your pie hole." mocked Elise. Karl was about to offer a short rebuttal but Tanner was able to intervene. "Enough…so anyways lets get started…and put your modern electronic-ma-doos away." he said eyeing Karmen. Karmen giggled and did so.

Everyone fell silent as Tanner finished readjusting his dungeon master screen. The scene was that of a snowy revolt with an adventure party, dwarves, giants and displacier beasts fighting and ripping each other apart. Tanner rolled up his sleeves and popped a stick of gum in his bitter nicotine stained mouth. He leans back slightly and thumbs his cap off of his brow slightly and smiles. "So.." he rolls a die. The plastic hitting off of the table offers a satisfying tumbling sound. He smiles and looks over to Phoenix whom is already grinning from ear to ear. "Phoenix, your character is there telling some wild story for a few gold. Let's role play this out. Tell me a story of your latest adventure, roll a charisma check and then I'll tell you how much you get paid from the inns keep and the crowd of listeners." Phoenix thinks for a second and looks up at everyone. "okie, so picture a tiefling dressed in a hooded black and silver outfit…he is waving around…a map with all sorts of marks on it…he says in a very proud robust voice "I have single handedly executed an entire orc…tribe all by myself" the group snickers and Phoenix sheepishly grins. "I was even able to steal…his best wife's forged iron necklace." "Oh damn son sassy!" exclaims Karl with excitement. The group continues to rise in the volume of laughter and a joke here and there. Tanner puts up his hand and smiles. Phoenix is holding his 'dice cup' in his left hand. Damian picks up Phoenix's d20 and places it in the cup for him. Phoenix is unable to completely utilize his right hand but his friends do their best to ensure that he is able to play to his best ability. Phoenix dumps the die out of his cup and giggles at the 12 that is face up. He adds his modifier "17" he grins. Tanner thinks for a second and leans forward on his chair making a slight squeak noise. "Well, some of the less intelligent looking crowd seems to have bought your story..however…" he motions to Damian "that guy having a drink over there does not believe it at all". That is Damian's que for his character to come in. "Well, you see a short stout brown satyr turn around almost spilling his overflowing carved wooden mug. His horns are slightly curved forward giving him kind of a fiendish look to him with a sly smirk to compliment that notion slightly". Damian continues, " I say he just robbed some poor old farmer and came up with this story to take all ye' coin!". The satyr scoffed and clicked one of his cloven hooves off of the floor. "Now you see, I found a traveling caravan of orcs. When nightfall I stole this off of the leaders neck. Still as good as the last tale right?" Tanner then goes on to say "some of the crowd appears bored or angry and they disperse. It seems you have earned twelve gold, nice work." Phoenix smiles as he picks up his pencil and slowly but surely scrawls the number in his gold tab on his character sheet.

"Now that you two have come in contact start role playing and I will introduce the next character." Damian says "so…I see you are a fellow con artist" he says in thieves can't. Phoenix responds "I try, but I can't seem to get…a good gig going. Do you have any leads." Damian "Nah, things appear dried up here- by the way the names X'leaf. Leaf if you want the bard extraordinaire!" The goat man pulls out a set of bagpipes and begins to play the noisy instrument. "Roll a performance check my man." Tanner spouts and looks at Damian expectantly. "Ah, a 20 but not natural" Damian exclaimed but sounded a tad bit disappointed. "The crowd immediately perks up, some start clapping and others start dancing. The bar is overflowing with orders of ale because you know you can't truly appreciate bagpipes without good ol alcohol. You earn 23 gold my man from the bartender- he really appreciated all of the free business." "SCOOOORRRE" he shouts and scribbles the digits smiling. "My name is Debt…I always seem to find myself in it…hence my chosen virtue name. I would really like to get out of it and pursue a new goal..a new name…a new identity." The devil man says slightly cringing at the sound of the foreign pipe instrument and the hairy human trodding before him.

"Now, you feel a light warm hand touch your cloaked shoulder" Tanner nods to Elise "you turn and see this person standing before you". "You see a see a wood elf with spikey wild short hair dressed in orange and red robes standing before you." Elise continues, "I hear you seek adventure. I too have heard rumors of a fine treasure awaiting a group of adventurers that dare be foolish or brave enough to seek out." "Ah yes my dear, seems you have over heard us. Do you have more information about this rumor" says Debt. Just then, a note is passed from Tanner to Elise whom promptly reads it. "Why yes, on my way to the Inn I saw this old man talking to the town Berger about some sort of statuette worth at least 2,000 acres of land." "GO OOOONNN". Leaf says in between breaths as he continuously plays the irritating instrument louder than ever to prevent those from around them from eavesdropping. "Nice one Damian, here's a cookie" Tanner pipes up and tosses Damian a disgusting colored pink D6. "Inspiration dice and we aren't even there yet? Someone's doin' a little something something to " Karl says through grinning teeth like a cat with an evil plot (which is most cats mind you). "Oh hush you'll be there unless you just want to drown in a fuckin' well" taunts Tanner.

"Anyways, the three of you manage to slip out, Leaf being last obviously and you are approaching an old man by a twisted oaken tree". "I did not catch your name…" says Debt. "Oh yes, my name is Liliflora Foxfire. Lilly for short if you don't mind." "Ohh maaan a Foxxie Lady! How about I just call you foxie because you are vexing meee" says the Satyr as he eyes the elf. "Can I do a none lethal punch to the face" a disgruntled Elise frowns as her smart ass cousin is rolling with laughter. "Now non-lethal is debatable since it's in the face..I'll allow it roll to hit." "Nineteen!" Elise shrieks and sticks her tongue out at Damian. "Lilly strikes out at the smart ass goat man square in the face for…six damage with my modifier." "Oh man…" says Damian as he notes it on his character sheet. "Ladies are dangerous- that's how I like em. I then put my hand to my bruised puffy cheek and use lay on hands" said Damian.

"The old man looks up at all three of you approaching him. He sees the drama unfold right before his aged eyes. Starting from the name introduction to the lay on hands. He chuckles to himself as he draws out an old ancient hand and reaches for the staff leaning against the twisted tree beside him. He walks with a slight limp over to you three. He then begins to speak". "Greetings young adventurers" his voice betrays that of his age. It sounds as though he is a young man. He has quite the bald proud voice of a knight that has just won his latest victory. "I know why you approach me and I am glad I have strapping young adventurers to join me." He eyes over the three that stand before him. "As long as I get payment to clear my name I will be happy with that" said Debt crossing his arms and putting weight on his right leg. His tail swiftly whips back and forth with his curiosity at it's peak. "And…what of you two…why blindly dive into the unknown for the hopes of riches?" "Uh duh- I need to get this potion from this crazy old bat wizard to make me a full beautiful human man so I can get ALLLLL the ladies from the forest to the sea baby". Says leaf as he starts posing with his non existent muscles. "and you my child? What does a wood elf want with material treasures?" "I believe that information is confidential. You need assistance and I am here to give it." said Lilly as she eyed the man. She now just took notice that he has a black staff carved with the head of a dragon. She found it rather odd that the dragon had several spiked up horns rather than the usual curving horns a black dragon does. "Hey, can I do a religion check on that there staff?" "Yeah go for it" confirmed Tanner. "…threeee" she faceplams as the group roars with laughter. "yeah, you have noooo idea what the hell it is you uncultured wood elf you" says Tanner with a wide grin. Elise shoots him a nasty glare that could cause an owl bear to shit itself.

"Of course young one- understandable. Well now that I have you all here let me introduce you to these fine two strapping adventurers then we can discuss matters further" says the old man. He gestures and two hulking orcs step out from the shadows of the mighty aged tree" Tanner nods to Karmen and Karl for their que. He already anticipated that they did not listen to his request and created their characters together. ""I am so rolling a deception check" pipes Karl as he fumbles his dice at least three times before he actually manages to roll it on the table and not on the floor. "Haahahaaa…twenty one..not natural but it's twenty one yes!" he throws his arms up. "Now you all have to assume im some barbaric dumb Orc right off the bat!" "As if you are not already one." Karmen states filing one of her finger names. Karl shoots her a look and continues "Me Stugbu." he points to himself and then points to the other lady orc "This Bugak." he manages to stifle between laughs and choking. "Ok, so she like rolls her orcish eyes and then says". "My brother and I hail from our tribe in the northern stronghold called Falcon's End." everyone is scrawling notes by the chance that this information come up again later. "We seek fortune for our tribe has been attacked and we have fallen on hard times. Hopefully this payoff will help us move our tribe so we can like farm and shit" said Karmen. "yeah what sister said. We need pokey pokey holes in ground and then go poo poo in them." Karl is beyond words as he continues to howl at his own stupidity. "At least you don't have to live with this guy…" karmen sighs and continues to work on her thumbnail with the irritating sandpaper sounds from her nail file. The rest of the party manages to introduce themselves to each other at this point..most trying their best to ignore Stugbu, unbeknownst to them that it was some type of sick cruel joke the orc was running with.

"Great now that you all are familiar with one and other…" The old man thrusts the staff into the dry dirt. Instantly the scenery melts before them. Before anyone has time to think, panic, fight or flee a new scene slowly comes into view. At first it is a sickening blur but as the seconds tic by, the image around them becomes more sharp and defined. The are now standing in what appears to be some type of library. Books surround them by all sides and certainly the smell of old books accompanies them too. They see weathered volumes in various stacks on the floor. All of the massive book shelves appear to be packed and running out of room. Upon further inspection, the room seems to house strange artifacts on high up shelves and on tables that are scattered throughout the room.

Before anyone has time to move the old man comes back over to them carry some yellow object in his hands. He does not appear to walk with any added difficulty but he also manages to lift the object up to his chest. "This is the famous statue known as the Slumbering Dragon." "Yes but is it worth something? Is this the prize?" questioned Debt excitedly. "Maybe if you let him finish…we would know…" Lilly said eyeing Debt whom shot her an apologetic smile and shrug. "No young one this is not it is only the lock. That of which you must discover the key to." "What…that's not a door knob" stated Leaf looking at the sleeping statue in a disappointed way. "Metaphorically speaking it is. Now as you can all see here…" he points to a small plague on the front of the statue under the dragon "is the riddle it says 'Because of evil I sleep, for the good I must keep, find it here to live in fear or find it there to answer your prayer, only then will I awake for thou names sake'." The old man then hands the statuette over to the part. At first, no one wants to take it. "Fine, I'll hold onto this- thank you" says Lilly as she stuffs the heavy statue into her bag. How he was able to hold it without an issue she will never know.

Just then, two tiny gold dragons flutter off their stands to rest on the old man's shoulders. He reaches his shaky wrinkly hand to pat one on it's spikey head. "The statue will wake up when it is time." "But like, when is that and how is that to be" said Bugak with a puzzled look on her face. "You will know for that is not as important now as it will be." "Can we at least have your name" asked Lilly "Also not important now off you go…." The scene melts before the party. The are now back on the well trodden dirt path outside of the small village of Hextra..the same place they started.

Everyone around the table groans "Awe man..more riddles Tanner..I mean DM" Phoenix smiles. "Sure is! And do you know what goes good with that?" "headache medication?" asked Karmen. "A shoe" asked Karl. "A new edition book" asked Phoenix. "oh ,man more inspirtation die?!" shouted Damian. "How about some natty twenties" mocked Elise. "No you all are wrong on more levels than you will know". Tanner grunts as he removes something heavy that was sitting in his backpack beside him. He lays it in the table as gently as possible. "See, nothing like authentic treasure to add to the setting of our capaign. Just don't eat it Karl" said Tanner grinning at him. "Bro- there is a fine line between eating and going poo poo I got this". Once again, everyone goes nuts and Tanners has to settle the group down. "So, I want you guys to put your hands on the statue for a moment, meditate on the words and ask yourself 'what would I really do in this situation'. Everyone complied and did as asked.

At first it was nice. It seemed that everyone was peacefully resting their hands on the statue. After about five minutes of awkward silence the world started to melt back.

"Wow, how long were we posed…like-" Elise's sentence is cut off as two huge orcs stand in her way. For some reason, she does not panic. They seem to have the familiarity about them…"so this is a dream right?"


End file.
